Former Air Force acquisition official released from jail

By Kimberly Palmer

October 3, 2005

A former senior Air Force acquisition official was released from prison in Marianna, Fla., Friday after serving nine months for giving Boeing Co. preferential treatment in contract awards in exchange for a job.

Darleen Druyun's sentence also included a $5,000 fine, 150 hours of community service and seven months of community confinement upon release. Her lawyer at the time of sentencing, John Dowd, said he no longer represents Druyun and did not know how to reach her.

Druyun, 57, in April 2004 pleaded guilty to giving Boeing preferential treatment. She served as principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition and management from 1993 to 2002, where she oversaw contract negotiations for Boeing's leasing of tanker aircraft for the Pentagon. That deal was worth $20 billion.

Druyun secretly met with Michael Sears, then a senior executive for Boeing, at the Orlando airport in October 2002 to discuss her salary, bonus and starting date at the company.

In January 2003, Druyun accepted a position as vice president and deputy general manager of Boeing's missile defense systems, where she remained until she was terminated in November 2003.

Druyun and Sears, who was sentenced to four months in prison in February, agreed to lie about their discussions.

"Darleen Druyun placed her personal interest over the interests of the Air Force and American taxpayers," said Paul McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in April 2004. "Secretly negotiating employment with a government contractor, at the same time you are overseeing the negotiations of a multibillion dollar lease from that same contractor, strikes at the heart of the integrity of the acquisition process."